Who said we couldn't be spontaneous with our plans? (I think I did.) After spending most of January in SW Florida, we originally planned to head to the panhandle around the 1st of February; but a few other opportunities came up.
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| Birthday Lunch at Harry's Seafood Bar & Grill - Lakeland |
A few days before leaving SW Florida, Beth and Kevin were in Orlando for Kevin's birthday celebration. We met them for lunch in Lakeland (Free desserts for the birthday people, Kevin & me). It was so great to see them. After lunch, we made a quick stop at the Detroit Tigers Spring Training complex which was busy with activity getting ready for the upcoming season. This was our first visit to Lakeland and even though it was brief, it got me thinking about how we could get back there for some Spring games (more on that later).
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| RV Window Repair |
RV Repair: Before leaving the Ft Myers area, we made an appointment to have the fogged windows in the living area of the RV repaired. We had some minor fogging when we first bought the RV, but it has been getting worse. This commonly happens over time when seals in the double pane windows age and deteriorate letting moisture in between the panes. No leakage problems, mostly an aesthetics issue, but we decided to have five windows repaired. Suncoast Designs in Hudson, FL (45 minutes north of Tampa) specializes in repair options as opposed to window replacement. (As long as your window glass isn't damaged, the windows can be taken apart; cleaned, polished, resealed and reinstalled.) At their facility, free RV hookups are offered so you can stay there in your RV while the repair is being done. We got a tour of the facility and the process they use and were impressed. They did a great job and we are VERY happy with the results. Suncoast warranties the work for as long as you own your RV.
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| Super Bowl party |
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| Super Bowl party practice |
Super Bowl in North Carolina: With the RV repair scheduled to take 3-5 work days sandwiched around the first weekend in February, it got me thinking we might be able to consider a side trip. With the Tampa airport about 40 minutes away, I checked into the possibility of flying to Raleigh to spend Super Bowl weekend with Cheryl, Darren & Ellie. It all came together and we left the RV in safe keeping with Suncoast Designs, and drove back down to Tampa to catch a flight to Raleigh. Luckily timing and everything worked well and we were fortunate to be part of the celebration since Darren and his family are lifelong Philadelphia Eagles fans. We got to do a little babysitting and attend the big Super Bowl party (for a short time - then we took Ellie home). We even wore our Eagles t-shirts - the band of course. Very happy for Darren that the Eagles won the Super Bowl; everyone concluded that Ellie is the lucky charm!
Continuing on a family note, several people have asked me how we get our "snail" mail. Currently we have maintained a home address in Michigan using our son's Saline address. Dan gets our mail and sorts through it. Since most bills and banking are handled on line, he only occasionally has to send a packet of mail to our current location or scans something to e-mail to us. It has worked very well and we appreciate Dan and Christie doing this for us. So here is a current picture of the rest of our family that was sent to us in our last packet from Dan. As you can see in the pictures, the granddaughters are growing up way too fast!
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| Rocky Bayou |
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| RV Site at Rocky Bayou Park |
Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park: After returning to Tampa and picking up the RV, we finally headed to the panhandle; arriving at our first stop; Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park near Niceville, FL. Located across the Choctawhatchee Bay from Destin, the park was very nice (electric and water hookups) and reasonably priced which was much appreciated after the high prices of southern FL. A natural setting with large sites and several walking paths. Unfortunately, we had a couple days of heavy rain while were were their, but won't hold that against a possible return visit. We visited Destin via the 3.6 mile "Mid Bay Bridge", enjoying a trip to the beach and checking out the area we will be staying at later in the month.
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| Walking trails at Rocky Bayou Park |
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| Destin Beach |
The Park is named after Air Force Colonel Fred Gannon who helped preserve this
site with beautiful "old-growth longleaf" pine trees, several more than
300 years old. The pine needles grow 10-15 inches long. In some ways reminded me of "up north" MI.
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| Beach at TH Stone State Park |
T.H Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park: Leaving Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou SP, we headed east about 125 miles to another Florida State Park, T.H. Stone Memorial St Joseph Peninsula. This is quite a gem. Located southeast of Panama City, the park takes up a large portion of the St. Joseph peninsula that juts out into the Gulf of Mexico. With the Gulf of Mexico on one side and St Joseph Bay on the other this narrow peninsula has great water views on both sides. If you like miles of pristine beaches (9.5 miles to be exact), no commercial development and the feeling of getting away from it all, this is a great location. The website claims the park to be "rated as one of the best state parks in the U.S. and one of the best beaches in the nation".
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| Large sand dunes along the beach at TH Stone Park |
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| No obstruction sunsets |
The park offers a good number of camping sites, but a limited number for larger RVs, all have water & electric hook ups. Great bike riding here too; miles of paved road within the park and a bike path outside the park that runs along the main peninsula road.
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| Dunes at sunset - T H Stone State Park |
More from the website: "The park is noted as an excellent birding and wildlife observation area.
During fall migration the peninsula is an important stopover point for a
variety of bird species. The park has one of the most productive sea
turtle and shore bird nest beaches in the panhandle". They offer canoeing and kayaking on the bay side of the park as well as fishing and snorkeling. The miles of natural beach with no high rises, no houses, no boat traffic, etc is refreshing. The State has done a great job preserving this expansive beautiful area for public use; the TH Stone Memorial St Joseph Peninsula State Park is celebrating it's 50th year anniversary; love this park!
Apalachicola: We took a short 30 mile drive further east along the coast to Apalachicola one morning. An old, but well kept town on the Apalachicola Bay with small shops and a few restaurants. We saw an oyster processing facility with a huge mound of oyster shells and learned from visiting one of the parks, this one estuary provides people with shrimp, crabs, fish and approximately 90% of Florida's oyster harvest.
Back on St Joseph peninsula we stopped at a fresh seafood store and bought some fresh shrimp. We peeled the jumbo size shrimp, put them on skewers and Jim cooked them on the grill - yum!
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| Panama City Beach pier |
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| Panama City Beach |
Panama City-Panama City Beach: Another day trip took us back west into Panama City and Panama City Beach. We needed to do some shopping and wanted to check out the area. As you can see by the pictures, and as you may expect, it is the complete opposite of the area we have been staying. A wall of high rise buildings line the beach and you have to look for public access points. There is a nice public park with a pier, but there is a charge to walk out on the pier. The beach is very nice and you can see why this area attracts a huge spring break crowd. It was already congested with traffic due to major road construction on the main beach road. Just a little too developed and "touristy" for me.
Topsail Hill Preserve State Park: Our last Florida State Park on this trip is Topsail Hill Preserve located a few miles east of Destin between Miramar Beach and Santa Rosa Beach. Within the park is a "RV resort" that offers additional amenities; full hook ups, including sewer and cable TV. There are also rental cabins for non campers. They tout 3.2 miles of secluded white sand beach and a long list of recreation opportunities. This should be another great biking park.
One "tech" note: we have found the cell service to be spotty along the northwest coast of FL and at the locations we have stayed in the panhandle. Not too surprising since they are more remote. With trying to do some remote tax and accounting work, we are considering a cell booster. I know, I want the best of both worlds; still researching this option.
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| Joker Marchant Stadium |
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| Detroit Tiger Training Complex-Lakeland |
Future travels: By the end of February, we are expecting to meet up with friends and family that will be in the area as well as my sister who lives nearby. The other change in plans is when we leave the panhandle area around the second week in March, we are heading back south to Lakeland FL to Spring Training. Very excited that we were able to get a reservation at a private park in Lakeland so we can see some Tiger Spring Training games. I know it's a "rebuilding" year (or two) for the team, but as a lifelong Tiger fan this is something that I've always wanted to do.
From Lakeland we will head back to NC for a couple of weeks, then on to Washington DC for a couple of weeks (hoping to catch the Cherry blossoms in bloom with Beth and Kevin). Planning on being in Michigan by 3rd week of April for our granddaughter Anna's Confirmation. Still looking at trips to Maine and out west later this year; however, looks like we are learning to be a little more flexible and spontaneous with our plans and it feels good!
Super Bowl in North Carolina: With the RV repair scheduled to take 3-5 work days sandwiched around the first weekend in February, it got me thinking we might be able to consider a side trip. With the Tampa airport about 40 minutes away, I checked into the possibility of flying to Raleigh to spend Super Bowl weekend with Cheryl, Darren & Ellie. It all came together and we left the RV in safe keeping with Suncoast Designs, and drove back down to Tampa to catch a flight to Raleigh. Luckily timing and everything worked well and we were fortunate to be part of the celebration since Darren and his family are lifelong Philadelphia Eagles fans. We got to do a little babysitting and attend the big Super Bowl party (for a short time - then we took Ellie home). We even wore our Eagles t-shirts - the band of course. Very happy for Darren that the Eagles won the Super Bowl; everyone concluded that Ellie is the lucky charm!
Continuing on a family note, several people have asked me how we get our "snail" mail. Currently we have maintained a home address in Michigan using our son's Saline address. Dan gets our mail and sorts through it. Since most bills and banking are handled on line, he only occasionally has to send a packet of mail to our current location or scans something to e-mail to us. It has worked very well and we appreciate Dan and Christie doing this for us. So here is a current picture of the rest of our family that was sent to us in our last packet from Dan. As you can see in the pictures, the granddaughters are growing up way too fast!
T.H Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park: Leaving Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou SP, we headed east about 125 miles to another Florida State Park, T.H. Stone Memorial St Joseph Peninsula. This is quite a gem. Located southeast of Panama City, the park takes up a large portion of the St. Joseph peninsula that juts out into the Gulf of Mexico. With the Gulf of Mexico on one side and St Joseph Bay on the other this narrow peninsula has great water views on both sides. If you like miles of pristine beaches (9.5 miles to be exact), no commercial development and the feeling of getting away from it all, this is a great location. The website claims the park to be "rated as one of the best state parks in the U.S. and one of the best beaches in the nation".
The park offers a good number of camping sites, but a limited number for larger RVs, all have water & electric hook ups. Great bike riding here too; miles of paved road within the park and a bike path outside the park that runs along the main peninsula road.
